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City Document — No. 37. 



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RAINSFORD ISLAND. 



CITY SOLICITOR'S OPINION, 



In Common Council, September 9, 1847. 
Laid on the table, and ordered to be printed. . 
Attest, W. P. Gregg, Clerk C. C 






RACNSFORD ISLAND. [Sept. 



CITY OF BOSTON. 



In Common Council, September 2, 1847. 

Ordered, That the President of the Council be 
requested to obtain from the City Solicitor a state- 
ment of the tenure by which the City holds pos- 
session of Rainsford Island, for the information of 
this Board. 

Attest, W. P. Gregg, Clerk C. C. 



1847.] CITY DOCUMENT.— No. 37. 



City Solicitor's Office,) 
Sept. 0, 1847. j 

Benjamin Seaver, Esq. 

President of the Common Council, 

Sir, 

In reply to your communication of the 3d 
instant, requesting from me, on the part of the Com- 
mon Council, a statement of the tenure by which the 
City holds possession of Rainsford Island, I beg leave 
to submit the following as the result of my inquiries. 

On December 7, 1736, John Loring, Samuel Lor- 
ing, Caleb Loring, Benjamin Loring, John Loring, jr. 
and David Loring, and their wives, in consideration 
of £570 in Province bills of credit, made a convey- 
ance of " Raynsford Island " to William Foye, Treas- 
urer and Receiver General of the Province of Massa- 
chusetts Bay, in trust for the use of the Governor, 
Council and Assembly of his Majesty's Province of 
the Massachusetts Bay and their successors forever, 
to be used and improved for an hospital for the said 
Province. 

There have been several Acts of the Legislature in 
relation to this Island, and there was some confusion 
as to the connection between the Commonwealth and 
the City of Boston, in the care and management of 
the establishment there, up to 1836, when it was 
provided in the Revised Statutes, chapter 11, sec- 
tions 4 and 5, that the Hospital establishment at 
Rainsford Island, the Island itself, and all property 
thereon, belonging to or connected with the said 



4 RAINSFORD ISLAND. [Sept. 

Hospital establishment, should be under Jthe sole 
care of the Mayor and Aldermen of Boston; who 
should appoint all such officers and servants as they 
might deem necessary, prescribe their respective du- 
ties, and establish their compensation. It was also 
provided, that the Mayor and Aldermen should, an- 
nually, file in the office of the Secretary of the Com- 
monwealth, an exact account of the state of the 
property of the Commonwealth, belonging to, or 
connected with, the said Hospital establishment, and 
also of all money expended thereon, in the course of 
the preceding year. 

In 1839, the Legislature passed an Act, upon this 
subject, which appears to have led to some misun- 
derstanding between the City authorities and the 
State Committee on Accounts, which it is not neces- 
sary to state in this connection, as the Act was re- 
pealed in 1840, and thus matters were thrown back 
upon the provisions of the Revised Statutes, above 
referred to. 

In 1841, another act was passed, which provided 
that the use of the island, and of all the buildings 
on the same, should be granted to the City of Bos- 
ton, for the sole purpose of a quarantine establish- 
ment ; all expenses for salaries of officers, and for 
repairs of buildings, being paid by the City of Bos- 
ton. The second section of the same act provided, 
that whenever the Commonwealth should demand 
possession of the island, the City of Boston should 
surrender the same, with the buildings thereon. 
The fourth section contained a provision that the 
Act should take effect, if the City Council of Boston 
should accept the same within sixty days after its 
passage. It does not appear that the City Council 
did accept the Act. We are thus again thrown 



1847.] CITY DOCUMENT.— No. 37. 5 

back upon the provisions of the Eevised Statutes, 
which place the Island and the property thereon 
under the sole care of the Mayor and Aldermen. 

This statement seems to answer the inquiry sub- 
mitted to me ; but there are other facts and proceed- 
ings which have come to my notice in making this 
investigation, which it may be convenient to refer to 
in this connection, in case the City Council should 
deem it expedient to take any action upon the sub- 
ject, in consequence of a resolve passed by the Legis- 
lature of the Commonwealth, in 1846. 

By this resolve, the Governor, by and with the 
advice and consent of the Council, was authorized 
and requested to inquire into and ascertain the title 
of the Commonwealth to Rainsford Island, and to 
the State Arsenal in Boston, with power to release 
unto the City of Boston all the right and title of 
the Commonwealth to said island and arsenal, upon 
such terms and considerations, as, in their judgment, 
the interests of the Commonwealth might require. 

In relation to the Arsenal, an arrangement has 
recently been made, and the interest of the Com- 
monwealth released to the City. The subject of 
Rainsford Island appears to have been referred to a 
Committee of the Executive Council, in 1846, but I 
am not aware that any report was made, or any de- 
finite course of action adopted or recommended. 

In 1840, a Joint Special Committee of the City 
Council was instructed to consider and report on the 
situation and connection of the City of Boston and 
Rainsford Island, and what course it would be proper 
for the City to pursue, taking into consideration all 
its relations under the present law. An interesting 
report was drawn up by the Chairman, Hon. Jona- 
than Chapman, but no definite action was taken at 



6 RAINSFORD ISLAND. [Sept. 

that time, except to refer the matter to the next 
City Council. 

In 1843, a Joint Committee was appointed to 
consider and report the expediency of removing the 
Hospital establishment from Rainsford Island to 
some other Island or place belonging to the City. 
This Committee reported in favor of removing the 
establishment to Deer Island, and that this place 
should be established as the place for the quarantine 
of vessels, in the same manner as Rainsford Island 
had heretofore been used. This report was accept- 
ed in the Board of Aldermen. 

In 1844, an arrangement appears to have been 
made with the Treasury Department of the United 
States, by which the government was permitted to 
land and store coal on the Island, for the annual 
rent of three hundred dollars, to be expended in 
repairs. 

In 1845, a Committee of the Board of Aldermen 
reported in favor of reducing the salary of the Island 
Keeper to three hundred dollars per annum, and 
one hundred dollars for a boatman, four months of 
the year. In the same year Jonathan Bruce was 
appointed keeper. 

Subsequently, in the same year, on the petition of 
the keeper, the island was leased to him for three 
years from December 1, 1845, upon the following 
terms ; — -The lessee was to have all the income from 
the Island, as an equivalent for the care and im- 
provement thereof; subject, however, to a release of 
the same at any time within the term of three years, 
if the said Island should be demanded by the Com- 
monwealth ; or if, at any time within said term, the 
City should require it for quarantine purposes, this 
lease to be null and void. 



1847.] CITY DOCUMENT.— No. 37. [Sept. 

It may be proper to state in conclusion, that the 
Commonwealth and the City are jointly interested 
in the property on the Island. It is supposed that 
the large hospital, the keeper's house, and the boat- 
man's house, belong to the Commonwealth, whilst 
the small hospital, the physician's house and the 
store houses are the property of the City. 

The above statement contains all the facts that 
seem necessary in order to understand the connec- 
tion between the Commonwealth and the City of 
Boston respecting Rainsford Island. 

I have the honor to be, 

Respectfully, your ob't serv't, 

P. W. CHANDLER, 

City Solicitor. 



